Arnolfini Gallery
The Arnolfini seen from across the harbour
|
|
 Arnolfini
Location map for Arnolfini
|
|
| Established | 1961 |
|---|---|
| Location | Bristol, England, UK |
| Coordinates | 51°26′57″N 2°35′50″W / 51.4492°N 2.5972°WCoordinates: 51°26′57″N 2°35′50″W / 51.4492°N 2.5972°W |
| Type | Art Gallery, Performance Arts, Cinema |
| Visitors | 398,000 (2008/2009) |
| Website | http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/ |
The Arnolfini is an international arts centre and gallery in Bristol, England. It has a programme of contemporary art exhibitions, artist's performance, music and dance events, poetry and book readings, talks, lectures and cinema. There is also a specialist art bookshop and a café bar. Educational activities are undertaken and experimental digital media work supported by online resources. A number of festivals are regularly hosted by the gallery. Arnolfini is funded by Bristol City Council and Arts Council England, with some corporate and individual supporters.
The gallery was founded in 1961 by Jeremy Rees, and was originally located in Clifton. In the 1970s it moved to Queen Square, before moving to its present location, Bush House on Bristol's waterfront, in 1975. The name of the gallery is taken from Jan van Eyck's 15th-century painting, The Arnolfini Portrait. Arnolfini has since been refurbished and redeveloped in 1989 and 2005. Artists whose work has been exhibited include Bridget Riley, Rachel Whiteread, Richard Long and Jack Yeats. Performers have included Goat Island Performance Group, the Philip Glass Ensemble, and Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company. The gallery reached a new audience in April 2010, when it was chosen to host one of the three 2010 general election debates.
Jeremy Rees started Arnolfini with the assistance of his wife Annabel, and the painter John Orsborn in 1961. The original location was above a bookshop in the Triangle in Clifton, Bristol. In 1968, Rees was able to give up his teaching job and with the aid of private funding and Arts Council funding relocated the gallery to Queen Square, then to E Shed, the current home of the Watershed Media Centre. In 1975, Arnolfini moved to its present home in Bush House, occupying two floors of a 19th-century Grade II* listed tea warehouse situated on the side of the Floating Harbour in Bristol city centre. The remainder of the building was office space leased out by developers JT Group.
...
Wikipedia